In Relationships, People Care More About THIS Than Anything Else

Do you have a wish-list, or more of a can't-possibly-have list when it comes to a potential mate? Although people may be unsure of the qualities they're looking for, they're pretty sure about the traits they absolutely don't want.

Whether it's potential dates or mates, we tend to focus more on the deal-breakers than the deal-makers.

In the new study, "Relationship Dealbreakers: Traits People Avoid in Potential Mates" published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Peter Jonason and his colleagues from the University of Western Sydney investigated the most common deal-breakers and the affect they have on our ideas of relationship-material.

The researchers looked at six surveys of relationship deal-breakers, and discovered firstly that women have more deal-breakers than men, since they're the ones who could potentially get pregnant. When it comes to bearing children, evolution still plays a part in placing the upmost importance on the ability to pick someone who will help raise a child.

In one of the surveys, 5,541 participants (single Americans ages 21 to over 76) were asked: "When considering a committed relationship with someone, which of the following would be deal-breaker to you?" Respondents were allowed to pick as many traits as they wanted from a list of 17 potential deal-breakers including qualities like lazy, overly needy, too quiet, too talkative, and bad sex.

Men rated having kids, challenging location of potential partner, talks too much, and low sex drive higher on the deal-breaker list than women did. The researchers reasoned that these responses may reflect men's somewhat higher interest in casual sex.

In another of the study's experiments, 132 adults rated the profiles of four potential mates who were attractive and successful. The participants were asked to rate how likely they would be to consider either a purely sexual relationship, a short-term relationship, a committed long-term relationship, or a friendship with each of the four people.

After the participants made their ratings, they were told that each of the potential mates had a specific deal-breaker — such as an unhealthy lifestyle or a desire for an opposite kind of relationship than the participant. After learning of the deal-breaker, the participants were asked to re-evaluate their interest.

The results were that non-dating deal-breakers made people less inclined to have any type of relationship with that person, including friendship. Apparently, deal-breakers aren't just for serious relationships.

Having your own personal set of deal-breakers can be an intelligent and helpful tool when trying to find that special someone. However, some flexibility should also come into play; you don't want to discount someone who may have some hidden positive qualities that just need to be discovered.